The Day has Come
by Waoka
Summary: Random story I thought up.


The day had finally come

The day had finally come. I was going to be rescued today. Jacob, Edward, and I were going to be taken away from our horrible parents. And we were going to live in a happy safe home together. And be loved, fed and not be hurt anymore.

_Yeah, when man can breathe in outer space!_ My more grounded part told my dreaming part as I washed the dishes from Dad's party last night. He had friends over who drank with him all night and were total slobs. Of course, Jacob, Edward and I had to clean up after it. We could not be seen at the parties so we hid in the basement in a secret room; okay, so it's not secret but we disguised the door and a closet that Mother and Dad forgot about. Our safe haven, as Edward called it.

He was seventeen and the oldest. He was going away to college a year early, just to get away from Mother and Dad. Jacob and I, sixteen and thirteen, were going to have to wait longer.

I heard stumbling feet and I quickly put my hands inside of the water. Too late, Dad had caught me. I felt my face being slapped and I fell to the floor. I huddled into a ball while Dad began to yell at me. He was cursing me and threatening to take away my food. _Please Dad. Hit me all you want just don't take away the food again!_ I mentally begged him. Finally, Dad stopped and I was still curled up in my safety ball when Edward's strong arms began pulling me out of it. His brown hair mixed with my darker-brown hair as he kissed my head.

"I'm sick of this Edward! Just sick of it!" I told him. I was crying when he pulled me into his lap and whispered encouragement to me. He told me to be strong and that he would always protect me at all costs. I wiped my eyes and looked at him. His gentle hands brushed the tears that I had missed away and he pulled me into a hug. I was his baby or so he told me. He felt that he was supposed to protect me and be my mother and father. He had enough things to worry about other then me. I could take care of myself and I never let him or Jacob forget it.

I got up and I threw myself into my chores. I finished just in time to eat breakfast. I wouldn't have lunch or dinner so I had to eat now. Edward finished his chores early and sat with me while we waited for Jacob. Dad was yelling at him and we both heard a thud as Jacob probably fell down the stairs he was cleaning. Dad was cursing at Jacob as Jacob tripped into the kitchen with a black eye already beginning.

"Let's go!" he muttered and we flew out to Edward's small car. He had managed to get Mother's old car when she bought a new one. There's Mother's logic: Kid? So? Car? Hell YEAH!

We lived in the woods so no one could hear us for at least a mile. Dad and Mother picked the house so that they could torture us without being caught. Dad is a spawn of Satan; I hope that God shows him what he has done to us over the years. He has whipped us, starved us, put us in cages, and worked us to an inch of our lives. Maybe God will show him this and Dad will never see us again.

We reached the school just as the bell rang. Edward parked the car and hugged me goodbye. I ran into my homeroom just as the late bell rang. Mrs. Newman came and began taking role. When she called my name, she looked up. Her eyes widened in horror at me. I felt my face and winced. I had a bruise from where Dad had slapped me.

"Rachel?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am?" I answered.

"What ha-… I mean how did-… why do you have a bruise on your face?" Oh, shit! I hid my face as kids began to laugh and mutter things. I didn't listen. I already knew what was going to happen. She was going to call my parents and they would lie about why I had a broken arm, bruise, cut, et cetera. Then I would come home and be beaten for it.

"Rachel, will you go to the front office please?" Mrs. Newman asked. I nodded and gathered my things. I left the room, hearing Mrs. Newman pick up the phone and call Jacob and Edward's teachers. _Oh boy!_ I thought as I walked the long way to the office.

Jacob came up behind me and wrapped his hand around my mouth. He pushed me aganst the wall. His good eye was full of fury. His black eye was beginning to turn black now.

"What did you do this time Rachel?" he hissed at me. I felt as if I was going to start crying. I knew why he was doing this. He was scared and I was too. However, I could do nothing about it. Edward came behind Jacob and pulled him away from me. Edward bent his six foot three frame down to look in my five feet four high eyes.

"Rachel? What happened? Did someone tell?" he asked me.

"Mrs. Newman saw my face and sent me up here." I told him. Edward pursed his lips and nodded. He turned to Jacob.

"Listen you two. You know what to do. And Jacob please do not yell at the people AGAIN. That was horrible for everyone." Edward ordered us. I nodded and looked at Jacob. Jacob's face was smooth but his fists were shaking.

This was entirely my fault and Jacob knew it. He just didn't want to say anything to me in front of Edward. Edward would murder him if he yelled at me. Still, I had to say something!

"I'm sorry Jacob. I didn't mean to! I know it's my fault, but I just didn't finish the chores in time for me to cover it up! I'm sorry, sorry sorr—"Edward pulled me into another hug and I began to shake just as Jacob was. Edward let me go and told me to calm down. I took deep breaths and managed to get my self under enough control to go to the office.

There stood the school nurse and the principal. Edward sat down and Jacob and I followed. The principal, a very fat, gassy man, everyone just called FatFart, stood in front of us. (Hey! The man can clear a room in three minutes after lunch once he lets one of those bad boys rip! UGH!). He stepped forward and cleared his throat.

" Well, people. Looks like we have a problem don't we?" he asked us. None of us answered. Edward took my hand and squeezed it. Jacob's beach blonde hair covered his blue eyes as he looked down.

"Does anyone have any questions?" FatFart asked us. Edward spoke up.

"Why are we here?"

"We have reasons to believe that your home life is, hurting the three of you physically and that—"

" We are not being hurt by our parents. That is just bull." Edward snarled. We had to defend them. It would hurt more if we didn't.

"Edward, we know that you all have had mysterious injuries for several years and have always had some radical excuse for the cause." The nurse spoke for the first time.

"So what? They happened!" I argued.

"Every weekend?" Nurse asked. I sulked. Well crap!

"Sooo, what are you saying? Are we being "abused"?" Jacob muttered. FatFart and Nurse exchanged a glance and looked back at us.

"Well, yeah Jacob. You are being abused."

"No we are not! Don't you dare say that about Mother and Dad! They are kind and loving and everything in a parent anyone could hope for!" I yelled. Edward jumped and Jacob was suppressing a smile. I got the idea that he was proud that I learned to yell at adults.

FatFart muttered something and Nurse told us to go and wait for our parents. Edward sat straight up and Jacob squirmed. I was the one who led the others and went out to the waiting area. Five minutes passed and Mother stood in the doorway.

My heart ached when I saw her. She looked just like she did before she was fired from her job, when we would come home from school. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and all her brown eyes were saying was "Why was I called down here?". She was wearing a blue dress suit and had on high heels. She looked beautiful compared to what she normally looked like.

She waved her hand for us to get in the car. We scurried out the door to Edward's car. We were going to get in trouble for it later but all that mattered was getting away from nosy grownups.

Edward sped out of the parking lot and straight home. We ran down to the basement and Edward threw Jacob and me into the hiding place. I tried to pull him in with us but he shook me off and slammed the door. Jacob and I stood up and looked out the one-way mirror that we had put together so we could watch out for Dad and Mother.

Edward was sitting aganst the wall facing us, his arms across his chest, and knees to his arms. Edward knew we were watching him; he motioned us to get down and stay silent. Jacob shook his head and motioned that we would help him once it was done. Edward nodded and sat back aganst the wall and began a silent prayer.

The footsteps came. Edward's eyes widened in fear as Mother and Dad came down and had the fire stoker. Dad began asking where Edward's brother and sister were and he just shrugged as if he didn't know where we were. Dad started a fire in the fireplace and Edward tried to escape. He was caught by Mother and taken to Dad.

Dad tied Edward to a pole and began turning the stoker in the fire. Dad pulled it out and started towards Edward. Edward was trying to break the ropes but they held firm. I hunkered down and covered my ears. Jacob was dropping down next to me as Edward began yelling.

I woke up in Jacob's arms, his shirt was soaking wet with my tears. Edward was moaning and I wiggled out of Jacob's arms to untie him. Jacob followed and untied the ropes. Edward had been burned. He was burned across his back and arms. I gasped and pushed his sweaty hair away from his face. Edward's eyes were half closed and I had a nasty feeling of nausea. I pushed it back down and grabbed Edward's shirt that Dad must have taken off.

Jacob helped me get him into the hiding place where we laid him down on the blankets we had hidden there. I snuck out, got cold water from the hose, and brought it back to the hiding place. Jacob began to clean Edward's arms. The burns weren't deep, thank goodness, but Edward began to hiss as soon as Jacob began to touch the top of his back. I got some food that we had stolen and stored there for times like this. and fed it to him to keep Edward distracted.

Edward's brown eyes were shut tight and he was shuddering. He was murmuring something about how we were going to be killed one of these days if we didn't leave. Jacob looked at me over Edward's head and blinked. We didn't really consider running away because there were even worse pains out in the world and we didn't want to know what those pains were. If they were worse then at home, why would anyone want to know what they were?

Edward took my hands in his and pulled me down beside him. He began singing. Jacob pulled the door shut and pulled his knees to his chest. He bent his head and began crying. That was our lullaby when we were kids. When Mother cared about us. I wriggled out of Edward's grasp and went to sit by Jacob.

"Why are you crying, Jakie?" I asked him. Jakie was what I had called him when I was beginning to talk and it just stuck. I only used it when I was trying to make him laugh or feel better. Jacob looked up at me.

"I'm tired of this Rachel! I hate seeing you hurt, work and starve and know that neither Edward nor I can do anything about it!" Jacob answered me. What brought that on? "I hate to see you not have a home that other children have. You are thirteen; you should be focusing on keeping your boyfriend a secret from your older brothers; not on whether you will eat that night. It's not fair that Mother loved us when we were little, and not now. What the hell is that?"

"Jake, while that is nothing but borrowing trouble when we sure don't need it, it isn't your fault. There is nothing to do and you know it. We just can pray and wait. God has to bring us out of this right?" I replied, taking his hand and squeezing it. He smiled, nodded his head, and squeezed back. I rested my head on his shoulder. He was sooo faking it!

Suddenly, Edward touched my shoe and inclined his head towards the door. Jacob quickly stopped and leaned aganst the door. We all froze and listened. Footsteps. Headed right for our closet. Jacob pushed me into a corner and crouched in front of me. The door swung open. We had been discovered. Oh, day-crap!

Dad pulled Jacob and I out, threw us into two dog crates, and locked the doors. He pulled Edward out and put him in a cage as well. Edward howled when his back hit the crate floor, and his shirt soon became wet with pus. Dad seemed to like the sound of his pain…

We were down there for three days and nights. There was no food or water except when Dad sprayed us with water hoses for ten seconds a day. Edward's back was still hurting him, and Dad still beat him. He just whimpered now. There was no point in yelling. Yelling took energy and Edward needed energy to heal.

Jacob and I were beaten at least three times a day. Dad had beer at every meal so I guessed that he was drunk when he was beating us. Every time a whip struck, stick crunched aganst or fist punched me, Edward would beg Dad to stop; his back must have been getting better or some miracle happened, because he could yell over my screaming. Dad just kept going until I was pleading him to let me in my crate. Dad would then push me inside and slam the door.

However, he would not leave us alone just yet; he would often just kick the cages and mock us. Then when he would finally leave, Jacob and I would curl up as close to each other as we could manage and sleep. It was the only way to escape this hellish place.

On the fourth morning, I heard footsteps come down the stairs. I heard plates rattling. Jacob and Edward were awake by now and watching the door. Jacob was shaking from anything: hunger, excitement about maybe getting food, exhaustion, fear, and cold. Who knows?

The door opened and Mother walked in. We all hadn't eaten in days and here Mother was with a feast. Two slices of bread with eggs and butter for each of us. Better then any of us had had in a very long time. Mother began to feed us little pieces through the bars of our crates. We ate ravenously. She kept all the food coming until the plates were empty. No crumbs were left. We were happily satisfied. She smiled and I saw tears in her eyes.

"Mother?" I whispered to her. Her eyes shot to mine and held them.

"Thank you." I told her. She smiled and nodded her head. She turned to Edward.

"Edward. I want you three to know that I love you. You are not the only ones going through your father's beatings." She whispered. Edward nodded and his face betrayed no emotion. He hated her. I could feel it radiating from every fiber of his being. _How could she do this to us and then tell us that she loves us?_ was what he was asking himself, I'm sure of it.

"Mother?" Jacob called. Mother looked at him and gasped. I guess she hadn't seen Jacob's face since Thursday morning.

"Please get us out of here. We can leave Dad and never come back. No one has to know why we left. Just that you didn't love Dad anymore." He suggested. His blue eyes were bright with hope. I rolled my eyes. Jacob was older then I was but was so much more naïve then I in more then one way. Like here. _What an idiot! Does he really think that Mother would leave Dad? What mental age is he at?_ I thought.

"No sweetie. He would find us. Besides that, I still love your father, even though he isn't perfect." She replied, getting up from the ground. Jacob's shoulders slumped and his eyes got hazy. (I mean, it takes a lot for us to cry but Jacob loves Mother so much and to see her deny his only hope of escape broke the boundary.).

"You… love him… more then… us?" he stuttered. Mother answered that she was saving us by not leaving Dad. Jacob's tears spilled over. Edward's harsh eyes followed her as she took the plates upstairs and shut the door behind her. Jacob wiped his eyes and pulled some bread out from his pocket in his jeans. Edward did the same. His back was feeling better because he could sit up as much as his crate allowed him and push the bread towards me.

"Eat it." He ordered. "You need all the food you can get."

"No, Edward! You eat it. You need to get better." I whispered. "Jacob? You too!" Jacob shook his head violently and started pushing it through the bars of his crate. He was so dirty and young looking. His blonde hair hung in front of his face, mottled with dirt and tears. His eyes were frightened and he looked exhausted. I noticed that he smelled like the call of nature. But I guess we all did since we didn't have the chance to get out to use it.

"You need to eat Rachel. Edward and I have gone much longer with out food. We'll be fine." Jacob urged me. He pushed the bread through to my cage and I ate it. I couldn't argue anymore. Edward pushed his bread towards me and motioned me to eat it.

Instead, I spilt it and gave to both of my brothers. They wanted to argue but heard Dad's footsteps coming towards the door. They swallowed it and curled up as if they were asleep. I followed the example.

"Wake up, you scum!" Dad yelled, kicking Jacob's crate. It tipped to its side, almost toppling over. Jacob opened his eyes and pulled as far away from Dad as he could. Dad just reached in and pulled him out by his shoulder. Dad had messed it up badly yesterday so Jacob was yowling in pain when he landed on his hands. Dad kicked him in his stomach. Jacob rolled to his knees and curled into himself; he let one droplet of water escaped from his eyes.

"Please Dad. Leave me alone!" he begged. "Just leave me alone. Please!"

"What did you say?" Dad asked Jacob. Jacob looked up at Dad. His eyes were more afraid then ever and I doubt that he was faking it.

"I am a bad boy." Jacob whispered.

"WHAT?" Dad screamed.

"I'm a bad boy. I'm a bad boy!" Jacob rasped out. Dad smiled evilly down at him began to kick Jacob harder. Dad was wear pointed toe cowboy boots, every time he hit Jacob, a bruise would begin showing up immediately. Jacob kept repeating the phrase every time Dad kicked him. Why? Got me.

I turned away and looked at Edward and his eyes were full of murder. Edward pushed his fingers through the bars to reach the locks that held us captive with no avail. Dad smashed Edward's fingers and he pulled back, rubbing his probably broken fingers.

Jacob began crawling away towards his crate when Dad pushed his foot on Jacob's back. Jacob buckled and curled into his ball once more. Dad kept beating him until I shouted for Mother to save us. What a smart choice! Edward winced and Jacob looked towards me with his bruised face. _Oh shit!_

Dad's eyes flashed to me and I instantly regretted saying any thing. Dad shoved Jacob back into his crate, shut the door, and reached for me. I wrestled with all my might but Dad was stronger. My short hair was ripped up and I was pulled out. Edward was begging Dad to let me go.

Dad pushed me to the fireplace. He started a fire and began stoking it. I was frozen in fear. I couldn't run, even though everything in me urged me to run.

Jacob began yelling for help when Dad pulled the stoker out. He pulled my arm and touched the edge to my skin. My skin felt like it was being ripped off my bones and I was screaming. Dad then put me back in my crate with a "You know what will happen if you ever do that again!"

I was blowing on my burn to make the pain stop. Jacob was soothing me with soft words and gentle breaths on my burning skin. Edward was looking so incredibly pissed off that I didn't even look at him. Instead, I looked into Jacob's comforting eyes.

"It hurts." I whimpered.

"I know. I know." Jacob murmured as he reached towards me through the crate bars. I pushed my non-burning fingers through and brushed his. Jacob's fingers were shaking and it scared me.

"Why does he do this, Jake? What did we do to deserve it?" I whispered as I felt Jacob's cool breath calm the sea of pain searing in my arm. It made it feel slightly better but not much.

"Nothing, baby sister. We did nothing except be born." Jacob murmured as he blew more air for me. Edward's long fingers managed to snag my hair and get my attention. I looked into a calm Edward's gentle face.

"Go to sleep, Rachel." Edward soothed me. "It'll be better in the morning. Just sleep. It is the only escape. Sleep." I looked at my eldest brother and saw nothing but a defeated football player, forced to quit because of his many injuries. They were not from football, by the way. I did as he said. I dreamed about the burning all night; I didn't sleep well that night, even by my standards. My arm still hurt when I woke up to hurried footsteps outside the door to the basement.

"Edward, Jacob. Someone is here." I whispered. Edward sat up as far as he could and Jacob stirred. I was afraid; what if Dad was going to burn me more?

Next thing I know, I hear a "My God" and a flashlight shining in my face. Edward and Jacob instinctively turned away and curled up, as did I.

"Get Marcus down here NOW!" the voice roared. I heard even more footsteps and looked at Edward. His eyes showed defeat. I was frightened now. What would these strange men do? There was nothing that we could do but pray for liberation.

"Edward? Jacob? Rachel?" I hear another voice call towards us. I turned and saw FatFart looking at me.

"Fa- Mr. Lowing? What are you doing here?" I exclaimed. I was too excited to care. I was going to get out of this crate and this hell.

"Actually, my name is Mr. King. I am a detective working undercover at the school. Your real principal is taking a long needed vacation. I was called in to investigate a severe case of child abuse."

"Us."

"Right."

"How did you know we needed help?" Jacob asked.

"When you three didn't show up to school Friday and today then I decided that we needed to raid." Mr. King answered.

"You said that you know Mr. Lowing…" Jacob began. "Why do you look so much alike?"

"We're twins."

"Uh-huh. Why do you have different last names?"

"I was adopted by my foster family. I was also an abused child." I just stared at him. He was probably lying to get our trust.

"What are you doing in crates like animals?" Mr. King asked us as he opened our crates. The three of us crawled out and Jacob and Edward stood in front of me, like always.

"We are animals. We are nothing but dirt. We deserve worse than this!" Edward told him. Jacob and I nodded.

"Edward, who told you that?" Mr. King asked.

"Dad. He told us that we were on this earth to work. He said that we were his slaves or something like that. He treated us like slaves." Edward whispered.

"Hence the cages." I interjected. Edward flashed me a look that said, _Shut the hell up Rachel!_

"Slaves? What the hell?" was Mr. King's response.

"We… we're supposed to clean the house. And make meals. And watch Mother and Dad eat the most delicious food and not offer a bite to us even though we are starving. Except on Christmas, Mother and Dad would give us the leftovers of the turkey they have every year." I babbled.

"We would do everything they told us to and they would promise us food but would hardly ever give it to us. We just live to work, starve, and be beaten. 'That's what God created you for.' Dad always told us." I went on. I looked at Edward's face. Edward shot me a dark look. My shoulders slumped. I was hoping for his approval.

Edward hated talking about food; it would just remind him of what other people had that we weren't allowed to have or even talk about when Mother or Dad were around. I don't know why; because it made Jacob and I feel better when we would talk about what foods we would eat, if we had a choice.

I did not want to hide any secrets from them. I was tired of secrets. I had had one my whole life and I just wanted to get rid of all of my secrets. Edward and Jacob would just have to handle it.

Jacob's head bobbed up and down as Edward's long arms wrapped around me and pulled me to his side. He kissed my hair and picked me up when I swayed; I was getting dizzy from the stress, excitement, and hunger. Probably also because I had not stood on my own in four days.

" Why did you believe that?" Mr. King asked us.

"He's drilled that into our minds since we were children. We soon believed him." I said simply. My stomach growled and I clutched it. Edward arms tensed and Jacob looked at Mr. King with hopeful eyes.

"Can we –?" Jacob began and stopped himself. He looked down at the concrete floor and gnashed his teeth together. Edward froze and I closed my eyes.

"What, Jacob?" Mr. King asked, walking towards him. "What do you want?" Jacob backed up to a corner and crouched down on his knees, covering his head with his arms. Edward turned his body so he was between Jacob and me. I looked around his shoulder and saw that Mr. King was staring at Jacob who was cowering at his feet.

Jacob looked up at Mr. King with the most pleading eyes I had ever seen him do. His tongue licked his split lips nervously as he trembled." I am sorry. I did not mean to. I'm just hungry. I can't stand it anymore. Just some scraps will be better then ever just please! My family and I need food. We haven't eaten in days! Please." Jacob whispered.

He winced, waiting for the blows to come. It had happened too many times for us to care whom it was that was asking us what we wanted.

_How strange this must be for them, seeing us at this state._ But we were always like this when we wanted food after a long torture. We would do anything to get it. Just our way of staying alive until the next day.

Mr. King's head nodded and he went to talk to a cop that was suddenly there with a plate full of food for each of us. I gasped and Edward eyed the food with the hunger of a werewolf it seemed. Edward then looked suspiciously at the cop.

"What are you going to do with that? Eat it in front of us and leave leftovers but not allow us to eat it? Or burn it? Bury it? Maybe starve us and offer us this food, and right when we are about to eat it, throw it down the disposal? Whatever it is get it over with!" he barked at them, trying to sound tough.

I knew him too well; he wanted to eat the food and eat until his stomach hurt because it was so full; he wanted to eat at a table and not on the floor by a door and garbage can. However, we hadn't been able to do that for years and now wasn't going to be any different.

The cop shook his head and led us up to the top of the house. There, he put the plates on the table and motioned for us to eat. Edward took his and put it in our usual spot by the door. Jacob and I snatched ours before they could change their minds. The three of us ate the food quickly, not even tasting it. Just hungry.

I climbed into Edward's lap and put my arms around his neck. He pulled me close and held me too. Jacob put his hand on my shoulder. We were warm this close together; the pain did not matter anymore; we were going to leave this place forever. Edward began to hum our lullaby and Jacob stroked my hair. I was content.

"What are you going to do with us?" Jacob asked.

"Your parents are going to be in jail for a while, and you three are going to go to a counseling facility for abused and neglected children." Mr. King said. We looked at each other. We could not be separated. That would be even worse then what we had gone through in the past years combined.

"Please don't separate us." Edward mumbled. "We have never been without each other for more then a few hours at most."

"Yes. We have no one but each other. Please be lenient and keep us together." Jacob whispered. I nestled my head in Edward's chest, listening to the deep rumbling of his voice as he hummed. Edward rubbed my back and I closed my eyes. This is what I wanted: all of us together, safe, full, and not being hurt. I opened my eyes when Mr. King was answering Edward and Jacob.

"I make no promises except that you will be safe there." Mr. King told us. He knelt down beside us and looked me in the eyes. I flinched away from him. I wasn't used to anyone being so close to my face. "Why are you so close to your brothers?" he asked me. I stared at him in shock. How in the world can you not be close the to the two people who have practically raised you? Protected you? Chased away the nightmares, both real and imaginary?

"Edward and Jacob are my only family members. I depend on them and them me." I told him. Edward smiled at me and Jacob coughed. I mean we love each other but we never talk about our feelings. Who does with their older brothers?

"Why?" Mr. King asked simply. Was this guy really that dumb?

"Mother and Dad never cared much about me. Edward and Jacob are my mother and dad. They always have been." I answered. I shivered at all the horrible things Dad and Mother have done and how Jacob and Edward have helped me through it. Edward pulled me closer to him, feeling me shiver. I cuddled up closer to him. He put his chin on top of my hair.

"Jacob always seems so happy. Why do you think that is?" Mr. King asked me. Gosh, is this a questioning?

"He always has been." Edward chuckled. I had never heard Edward laugh more then three seconds until now. I looked up at him in shock. He just shrugged at me and laughed some more. Jacob started to laugh with Edward. I guess getting out of our home was taking its toll on them. I smiled. It was a good toll that we were all willing to pay.

"Jacob could always make me and Rachel laugh." Edward said and I nodded. I remembered when I had come home from fourth grade and had pigtails in because I thought they were the coolest things ever. Jacob was scrubbing the floors, looked up when I came in and started to laugh at me.

"WHAT?" I had demanded and stomped my foot. Jacob held his hands up and just said that I looked like a moose. I had laughed with him for at least two minutes. I smiled at the memory. That was one of my favorite ones. I came back to the present when Edward shifted uncomfortably.

"How do you feel about group homes?" Mr. King had asked us. I looked at Edward with fear making my heart beat faster then normal. He just glared at Mr. King. "You three are only children after all." He went on.

"I am not a child!" Edward screeched.

"It's all right Edward. You are going to go to college anyways. However, your younger siblings cannot live with you! How would you be able to do school work? On the other hand, even support them?

"I'll find a way. There always is one." He muttered. Jacob snickered at Mr. King's face. I guess he wanted Edward to jump up and say, "Oh yes! You are right! They need to get past all this while I go to school!" Boy, was Mr. King stupid if that was what he thought was going to happen.

"They will be in a safe place where you can visit them anytime. It's what's best for you and them. Don't you want what's best for Jacob and Rachel?" Mr. King said slowly and carefully.

"_I_ think _I_ know what's best for _my_ little siblings_. You_ don't!" Edward roared and I trembled. He sounded just like Dad. Jacob's cool voice began to calm me down. Mr. King looked shocked at Edward's outburst. If he was going to separate us, he was going to get a hell of a lot more then that!

"Rachel. It's all right. You're safe. Rachel." Jacob murmured to me as my breathing slowed down. I laid back aganst Edward, totally exhausted. I felt Edward shift under me and put one arm under my knees and one under my shoulders. I laid my head aganst his shoulder and closed my eyes as he stood up. I didn't know where we were going and I didn't really care. We were free.

That was over two years ago and I have seen my brothers only three times since. We were separated as soon as we got here. Jacob and Edward went to an older child's therapy center while I was stuck in a home where I was the oldest child there. I heard my alarm go off and I rolled out of my bed to turn it off. God I hated this place! I mean, yeah I was safe and yeah I was okay with the people, but this isn't what I needed or wanted. I think everyone knows where I wanted to be.

Someone for sure would think that a person my age that has two older brothers who begged Mr. King to let me come with them would make some kind of phone call or visitation thing right? WRONG-O! We only talked to each other once and I had cried when they had told me their plans to get a home. What was wrong with them? Was I suddenly so unimportant that I didn't have a say in any of our plans anymore? That they didn't want me to live with them anymore?

I looked over at my calendar. There was a visit with the brothers scheduled for the beginning of May. Well, it was the middle of May and still no visit from Jacob and Edward. I was beginning to panic, yet again, when suddenly I heard a knock at my door. I got dressed quickly and answered the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!" Edward and Jacob sang. Edward had a cookie cake with my name written on it. Jacob held three presents and a smile. I screamed and hugged Jacob so quickly that he dropped the presents to keep me from tackling him.

Edward laughed with Jacob and put the cake down on my desk. Jacob mussed up my hair and pushed me away to get a good look at me. Edward stood beside him and looked too. I looked different then when they had last seen me.

My brown hair now had blonde highlights and I was about an inch taller. My blue eyes had grown softer and my skin had tanned. I had smile lines and was laughing a lot more now with the little kids that I watched over sometimes.

"My oh my, Jake. What are we going to do with this new fifteen year old sister we have here?" Edward asked Jacob.

"I dunno. Maybe she would like to move in with us at our new apartment." Jacob replied with growing volume. I screamed again and jumped into Edward's embrace.

"You adopted us?" I asked him. Edward nodded and kissed my head.

"I've been trying for a long time and the judge finally decided to allow an exception for our case." Edward explained. "I have a job in an office's mail room and an apartment. Jacob came to live with me about a month ago when I "adopted" him. Now we need you to make the apartment a home."

"Do you want to move with your annoying older brothers?" Jacob laughed.

"Hell YEAH!" I shouted and squeezed Edward's middle. He laughed harder then I have ever seen him laugh and leaned down to me.

"Now we are a family." Edward murmured in my ear. I looked up at him. His brown eyes showed nothing but extreme happiness to have his baby sister and brother back. Jacob's eyes were just full of laughter. He was going to get to have a kid sister he can tease and mess with. I was just happy to have my two protectors and best friends back with me and happy.

"Were we ever not?" I asked him. Jacob laughed and came to join our embrace.

Just like that, I had a new "dad" and a new home. Edward managed to finish to college and with a degree in computers. Jacob is just about to finish college while I am about to start. Nowadays, we don't see each other that much since Jacob and Edward live at home and I live on campus. However, that doesn't make us any less a family. In fact, this has shown me that no matter what we go through, you will always have a family, somewhere in the world.


End file.
